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How is it going newbys


MikeA

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Never thought of folding the strings in half. Good idea. Great thread. Only issue I have with this thread is that I can see it will add to items I will want to build this year.... Guess that's a good thing.

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  • George Simmons

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I live very close to Joe Noe's and I was looking for something new this year that he doesn't have. I think I just found it.

Thanks for the ideas Bruce.

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I have a question, last year I added about 3,000 led lights (Home Depot & Lowes) - and this year I have another 3,000 on order between CDI & LED Holiday lighting. When one LED burns out - does it take out the rest of the string? Or is just that led burned out?

If one led burns out and takes out the rest of the string - and led's aren't replaceable - how do you troubleshoot & recover?

Steve

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George,

You need to do a trip to Yellow Stone, it is by far the best National Park I have ever visited! Yosemite is close by and we have done it 7 or 8 trips, Palm Springs, Lake Havasue, Salton Sea, anza borrego desert state park, Joshoua trees - I love the high desert.

Steve

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sjmiller wrote:

You need to do a trip to Yellow Stone, it is by far the best National Park I have ever visited! Yosemite is close by and we have done it 7 or 8 trips, Palm Springs, Lake Havasue, Salton Sea, anza borrego desert state park, Joshoua trees - I love the high desert.

Steve,

I couldn't agree with you more. I've been to Yellowstone a couple of times (and also to Yosemite a couple times) and agree they should be on everone's bucket list. Folks who think the desert is just a big sand dune like the Sahara haven't seen the stark beauty of the high desert.
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to Jim; Thanks very much. I found your videos on Vimeo (what happened to the "S" ROFL). Using 32 channels you have a very nice display, very well done! I don't think I would have the guts mount a mega tree on the peak of a 2 (?) story house. You are adding 480 channels?!!!!! I can't wait to see your setup in 2010.

to Jeffl; Thank you, but I'm not sure I would bet that Joe hasn't got one in the works lol. Looking at your setup gave ME an idea! I wonder how the wheel would work as a tree topper? I didn't see any 2009 videos, so I'm not sure how you changed your setup from 2008. The tree in the middle of the garage with the roof peak right above it is the one that made me think "I wonder?".

I have reduced the size of my Robin Wheel once by going from 3/4" pipe to 1 1/2" pipe. Like a dummy I only bought 100 bulb strings so I'm limited to 100 and 50 bulb raps. I'm sure there is a bottom limit to the size of the wheel but I think I could 1/2 the size at least once more without losing the wow effect. The other thing I have been thinking about is using Coro to make a smaller lighter weight one. My display can only be seen from one direction so having lights facing the house is a waste for me.

I have my Robin Wheel patterns in las files. That way I can copy and paste easily. I split them up into 4 sets of patterns (I think) so I didn't have to look though so many to find the one I wanted to use. Creating the patterns is what took me the longest, and I'm sure with all this brain power working on Robin Wheels, patterns I haven't thought of will result.

I will share my files with you if you promise that when you come up with a new pattern you will return the favor haha.

See what you started George? ROFL.

Also, using the spiral trees. I really can't come up with a lot of patters to use with the spiral. Basically spiral up and spiral down. I know leave lights on or turn them off, but really it comes down to spiral up and down. Has anyone thought of other patterns?

Bruce

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ainsworth wrote:

I found your videos on Vimeo (what happened to the "S" ROFL).

LOL...I had to go to my Vimeo page to figure out what you meant.

"S" is middle initial...
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ainsworth wrote:

I will share my files with you if you promise that when you come up with a new pattern you will return the favor haha.


Bruce

I would love it if you would share them with me????

Rick
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ainsworth wrote:

See what you started George? ROFL.

Thanks Bruce, but the credit should really go to Robin Stublen for developing the darn thing. All I did was ask his permission to copy it and then spent the summer working out patterns to use it with. I wish I had the room in the yard (and also the channels) for three or four of 'em - they're a real crowd pleaser.
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I finished wrapping lights on my first mini-arch last night and fired up my show computer to play with it - the damn computer won't boot up!! I guess thats why we start working on stuff in April/May - if it was going to break now is the time...

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George; Robin's display is one of the most amazing setups I have ever seen. He has SO MANY outstanding elements. The "art deco" singing deer, the mega tree with all the different sections (I think 105 channels), and of course the Robin Wheels. There are many more! He has one of the most inventive minds I have ever seen. I can't wait to see what he comes up with for 2010!

Hope you are having a great trip. Are you going to work on making your house face sing or do you have another new element that is using up your time? I'm out of channels for this year, just wondering how many more I'm going to have to buy after seeing all the 2010 displays :P.

Steve; I hope you got your confuser up. You have peeked my interest with mini arches. post a video when you get the issues resolved please. I would like to see them in action.

Rick; I'll try to email them to you today.

One question that got passed over is what happens when a bulb goes out on an LED string? I'm assuming it's not a big deal like with incandescent strings, I assume you just leave them with one dead bulb.

Bruce

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ainsworth wrote:

I have expanded from 16 to 80 channels. I decided to build a grant tree instead of a weber tree. With it's square cross section it was much easier for me to build. I have tested it and while I'm not completely satisfied with my result, it will do the job. I have already redone the star using light clips so I get a much cleaner looking star. I think I will end up reducing the number of light raps from 2 to 1 1/2, but not sure. I really need to expand from 11 channels to 17 on the tree, but I don't have them this year.

http://vimeo.com/8960201

I have finished 2 robin wheels. Hands down these are my favorite element! I just can't believe how many patterns you can create with the wheels (George was a huge inspiration here). I am driving them together this year, again I just don't have enough channels! I ended up with 2 because the first one I built was just too big for the area I wanted to put it in. So I have 1 using 3/4" pipe and 1 using 1 1/2". I have tested the smaller one in the house (the 3/4" was too tall to stand up inside). I love the robin wheel! I have no idea how many hours I have spent sequencing patterns for it. This video only shows a small percentage of the patterns I have so far.

http://vimeo.com/10317388

The last 2 elements I have completed are pole stars. I got this idea from Joe Noe. Mine are no where near as big or as fancy as Joe's. I am roof mounting mine so I had to restrict the height. I'm testing the roof mount system now (in South Texas we have strong winds so I felt the need to test them early just in case). I have not taken a video of them yet, but I will soon.

I hope I have given credit to all those that have inspired me; if I left anyone out thank you also. It seems the more I build and test, the more I want. I would love to have arches using CCR among other things.

Sequence on!

Bruce



Hi! I'm a newbie here myself.. Just built my first controller, and I'm excited to get started.. I was watching your videos and I LOVE the grant tree! Are there resources somewhere that show how that's built? I'm trying to get started early this year so that I'm ready for the holidays! Thank you!

-Roger
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ainsworth wrote:

Hope you are having a great trip. Are you going to work on making your house face sing or do you have another new element that is using up your time?
We got back on Wednesday. It was indeed great! I was planning on making the house face sing but since then I've gotten involved in paid sequencing for others and working with a CCR, so I'm not sure I'll have the time.
One question that got passed over is what happens when a bulb goes out on an LED string? I'm assuming it's not a big deal like with incandescent strings, I assume you just leave them with one dead bulb.

In the case where the LED's have replaceable bulbs, you have to identify the bad one and then replace it. In cases where the LED's are sealed and non-replaceable, you pitch the entire set.
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Roger; What really got me started on the tree was the Weber Tree.

http://vimeo.com/8479868

I didn't want to concrete a pole into my yard and that lead me to Grants tree idea.

http://www.vimeo.com/8638407 starts at about 3:20 into the video.

tree002.jpgThis is the cad drawing I used to build mine.

tree003.jpg

All dimension are inches, and angles in degrees. And you can bet all I did was come as close as I could. I have no way to measure and weld at 82.1 degrees lol.

As far as wrapping the lights I spaced the attachment points evenly. This tree is designed around using a 100 bulb string of lights.

I extended the vertical rods passed the bottom square about 1 foot so I could stick them in the ground to both anchor and level the tree. The star on top I built out of 1/4" round bar. It has already been through high winds, so I'm sure it won't tip over on it's own.

It is heavy! No idea what it weights, but I can put it up and down myself. To move it I tip it on it's side and drag it on it's "legs".

I hope that gives you some ideas on building your own. If you need more info, or pictures let me know.

Bruce

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ainsworth wrote


to Jeffl; Thank you, but I'm not sure I would bet that Joe hasn't got one in the works lol. Looking at your setup gave ME an idea! I wonder how the wheel would work as a tree topper? I didn't see any 2009 videos, so I'm not sure how you changed your setup from 2008. The tree in the middle of the garage with the roof peak right above it is the one that made me think "I wonder?".
2009 was the a rough year to say the least. Many of our decorations were under snow and they stand 42". :( In 2008 I shot video 13 times to get good footage. For 2009 I was able to shoot video once. Needless to say I'm not happy with what I have.

Never-the-less I still need to get what I have edited and posted. From 08 to 09 we went from 300 to ~500 channels.

Joe does a great job. Our theme is different, but when it comes to props, I'll copy if necessary. :P

Who knows what 2010 will bring. My goal now for decorations is:
  1. Easy to setup
  2. Easy to take down
  3. Easy to store

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:P I just completed my 1st project with LOR and our Hot Tub. 9 Channels, 5 lasers, strobe light, Alpine marine sound system. No problems. Go to You Tube and search for MLFSR10741 or Hot Tub Experience
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Mike Fabre wrote:

:( I just completed my 1st project with LOR and our Hot Tub. 9 Channels, 5 lasers, strobe light, Alpine marine sound system. No problems. Go to You Tube and search for MLFSR10741 or Hot Tub Experience

Hope you aren't drinking while you are tubbing...you might have a seizure and drown!!! :P

Here is the link for you others who might want to view it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNjcSQ8N9F8
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George Simmons wrote:

In cases where the LED's are sealed and non-replaceable, you pitch the entire set.

I had a bad LED on a string, so I cut it out and spliced another one from another bad set. It works fine now!

LEDs don't go bad very often. In full-wave strings, it is more often the rectifier that goes bad. I had a couple of strings with bad rectifiers, so I cut off the rectifier and spliced the set onto the end of a set with a good rectifier.

(You have to know a bit about AC/DC electronics to figure out what's the problem and how to fix it, since each LED brand is wired differently.)

The most common failure is on LED strings with replaceable bulbs. In that case the junctions of the dissimilar metals will corrode.
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Steven wrote:

(You have to know a bit about AC/DC electronics to figure out what's the problem and how to fix it, since each LED brand is wired differently.)

I stand corrected. Perhaps you'd be interested in authoring a primer on how to identify/repair problems with LED's that have non-replaceable lamps... I'm certain there's a bunch of us who could benefit greatly from that knowledge. Thanks.
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Hey Steve!

Good tip, my question is - if one LED goes out, does the entire string go dark? I haven't had any problems yet - just wondering if they are generally wired in series or parallel?

I have your back-up FM xmitter ready to return, I'd like a recommendation for what I should get - and from where.

Steve

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